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Wow, what a crazy month it’s been! There’ve been some hits and some misses, but the good news is I’m ending this challenge on a hit! Lisa from Lisa’s Craft Blog suggested I try an ornament from her site. When I visited there were so many to choose from! Finally I decided to try my hand with a Ribbon Christmas Tree but of course I put my own spin on it!

This might be the easiest ornament to date and I know it smells the best! I love the orange and clove ornament idea but there’s no way I can hang an entire orange on the tree and not expect it to fall off. So instead I sliced up an orange, and let the kids fill them with cloves and anise stars. I’m letting them dry a bit before hanging. Here’s hoping everything stays intact!

Well we’re in the final stretch and I guess now is as good a time as any to admit that I’m felt-challenged. No matter how hard I try my circles are always off and when I try to correct them I usually make matters worse. This story has a happy ending though, because this time I managed to create something I’m not afraid to share, felt garland!

I received an origami dress ornament a couple of years ago as part of an ornament swap and it is simply one of my favorite. While I can’t make the fancy hanger it came on, I can recreate the dress with vintage book pages to add a little feminine whimsy to our tree!

Head over to The Sewing Loft and check out the new 3-D ornaments she's made!

See ya Friday!

Let’s face it paper ornaments are much easier when you’re crafting with kids. So yes, this is another paper ornament!

How About Orange was one of the first blogs I fell in love with and she’s got a ton of great ornament tutorials. This ornament is another one of my favorites. Ours are made from vintage book pages and not nearly as pretty as hers but I still had fun with this one!

This was a last minute, ornament replacement, and like always it turned out much better than my original plan. See, my goal was to make paper nests by winding scraps of newspaper and gluing along the way. Unfortunately I over-estimated my children’s coordination and at 3 p.m. this afternoon had NOTHING to show for it! I didn’t even have a good mess-up. Just a couple kids with glue and newsprint all over their fingers.
Coffee to the rescue. Here’s my confession, I’ve got an addiction to Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk…in my coffee. It’s not something I’m proud of and yes I have read how many calories are in just ONE tablespoon of that wonderful concoction (for the record I delude myself by buying the fat free version.) Anyway, I’m left with a bunch of cute little cans that I’ve been wanting to turn into little stash cans! Thankfully the kids were able to get these made in no time!

These ornaments are very roughly based on a class I took at TCC, taught by Brenda Schweder. I had to rework the wire a bit after the kids got done but I’m still pretty happy with the results. I think it would’ve worked better if we’d had used smaller items with more wire!

Yes, this is inspired by a Martha ornament…see! Of course her's are perfectly symmetrica. The basic concept behind this ornament lends itself to any decorating style, notice the vintage book pages, and gives the opportunity for playing around. Keep reading and I promise this you’ll see what I mean!

I’m taking the day off but head on over to The Sewing Loft and see what kind of ornament Heather is whipping up!

See ya Friday!

This is an ornament I’ve wanted to make since I first saw it on How About Orange, many years ago. For one reason or another it never seemed to happen. Then my brother, Chris, tried to explain this awesome ornament he thought the kids and I would like to make. I thought it sounded familiar but it wasn’t until I watched his tutorial that I realized it was the same ornament! No more excuses – it’s time to make this paper snowflake ornament.

I’m going to go over the prep work for both today’s and tomorrow’s ornament. While they are both relatively easy, they require drying time. Ornament #10 is a Borax crystal icicle and ornament #11 is a twine ball.

**First, don’t forget to thank a Veteran today. Yay, Veteran’s Day and I’m NOT working at a parade. **

Yes, I meant to say that, Owww, and Owls. Last week I had a tooth break, it was beyond repair and pulled this past Tuesday. Sniff…it hurts more now than last week, whimper, even my ear is hurting. Deep breathe, but back to the ornaments.

Okay, okay first off, cut me some slack on the magazine cut-outs, it was a long weekend! I guess I should’ve shared a better picture…there’s one at the end of this post.

Back to the sixth ornament, Paperback Lions. I wish I could take credit for this but it was really all the kids. I had taken out my box of supplies, i.e. things I rescued from the recycling basket, and an ornament I wanted the kids to try to make. Once they looked at it they said no, it’s boring. Then Essie pointed out that it looked like a lion’s mane. Well, we all started playing and creating and this is what we came up with.

I had every intention of taking some time this weekend to get ahead on this challenge, I swear! But then I broke a tooth. So I’ve been a sort of drug-induced haze, and it’s not helping my to-do list! Still, I was able to get the kids behind this one, mostly because they’ve all wanted to try out the sewing machine! It’s a pretty simple idea, and while it doesn’t match my ‘tree theme’, these ornaments will help decorate our home in another way you’ll just have to wait to see!

Okay, I can’t claim this ornament as my own, Clara from the Pulaski County Farmer’s Market gave me the idea when we were talking about what to do with okra that had gotten too large. Why did it get too large you ask? Because we don’t eat it. I’ve never liked it and planted it on a lark. Am I ever so glad that I did. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an okra plant but it’s absolutely lovely and will be a staple in my gardens from here on out!

As you can see from the picture this ornament is really a spike that can be used to fill in those empty spots in the tree or skip the tree and put them in a stylish vase anytime of the year!

I’m taking the day off but head on over to The Sewing Loft and see what kind of ornament Heather is whipping up!

See ya Friday!

I may have accidentally cut off the tip of his beak, but the kids and I really enjoyed making these ornaments and they’re super easy! We used this bird ornament from Under the Table and Dreaming as our inspiration and kinda went from there!

Welcome to the official start of the No Ugly Ornament Challenge! We’re off to a whiz bang start!!! That was sarcasm. Yesterday afternoon I gathered the kids, supplies and all my good intentions and this is what we ended up with.